Welcome back to yet another year of the Brew Hoop Round Table, where we ask that everybody use coasters and please don’t feed the aging pugs from the table.
Trying to piece together lineups from the Bucks’ fifteen-man roster beyond the projected starting lineup of Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez. We’re even going beyond what you might think of as the eight- or nine-man rotation! But not deep enough for Tyler Smith or Chris Livingston, as much as we might like them. Here’s a look at some five-man groupings that we think would click during the regular season and perhaps even the playoffs.
Ever since Milwaukee’s defense cratered after Bud’s dismissal, I’ve been constructing defense-first lineups in my head in hopes of seeing some on the court. Perhaps my previous idea of Patrick Beverley-AJax-Jae Crowder-Giannis-Lopez became a possibility too late in the year because that fivesome never saw the floor together. Well, keep the holdovers, swap out the two has-beens for younger, more legitimate NBA defenders (sorry PatBev) and voila. I give you the Bucks’ All-Defense lineup.
Uses: a dynamic guard like Jalen Brunson or Tyrese Maxey is wreaking havoc on Milwaukee’s point-of-attack defense, the opponent features longer and athletic wings, a pre-closing lineup to hold serve while Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard rest
Strengths: lots of length (Wright is the least gangly at 6’5” with a 6’7” wingspan), solid athleticism, no worse than an average defender at any one spot, three credible outside shooters, decently switchable 1–4, gigantic frontcourt with interior scoring prowess
Weaknesses: only one true shot creator (unless you count Lopez’s old man post moves), relies heavily on Giannis and AJax for secondary ballhandling, lacks a potent P&R combo, might not keep the scoreboard moving enough
Obviously, with Brook Lopez on the floor, there are certain opponents this lineup is tailor-made for (Embiid’s Sixers, the twin towers Cavs, the Knicks if they aren’t going uber-small) and others where it’s best left unused (probably anything Celtics trot out). Yes, the drop zone would be the default defensive setup here, but that’s not a bad thing, even if, say, Wright or Jackson takes a second getting over an Embiid screen as Maxey attacks a dropping Lopez. I have faith that Lopez’s age has not robbed him of his elite instincts at handling both a roller and ballhandler entering the paint, backpedaling while keeping each in his line of vision. After all, he’s only 36 and not 78—his mind is still sharp even if he loses another step. Giannis will do his thing and rotate from the weakside, making this one of the classic Milwaukee hallmarks when their defense was among the league’s best.
Switching everything is probably best avoided in most matchups in favor of the situation I laid out above; not switching puts Giannis and Lopez in their best position to succeed as defenders, plus both guards are athletic/long enough to close out onto shooters left open as the defense rotates. However, since Wright and Jackson have enough length and athleticism to handle wings of nearly all sizes, if the opposing ballhandler is running P&R with perimeter-oriented players, that’s absolutely a switch the Bucks can run. Even if the screener slashes instead of popping back out to the three-point line, Wright and Jackson are also well-suited to defend that action with their footspeed. The onus would be on AJax to not get lost in the play due to his inexperience or to commit a personal.
As I alluded to above, the gambit here would be to keep the lead from disappearing or the deficit from growing until more offensive-oriented players sub in. There would be a lot of pressure on Giannis to score, and he will likely draw a lot of double-teams on him as defenses ignore AJax. Thus, it would significantly benefit the Bucks to get ahead off rebounds and live-ball turnovers by not crashing the guards to the boards and instead sending them upcourt. Immediately launch AJax down the floor at high speed looking for an easy bucket and quickly relay the rebound to Wright near midcourt as a hockey assist. If that doesn’t work, the cavalry is close behind as Giannis makes up ground in transition with his long strides, and Lopez brings up the rear to tee up one of his classic trailing threes atop the arc.
You know something? It feels like I’m describing classic, winning Bucks basketball. Stuff that worked so well during the Bud years that they’ve since moved away from but now have the personnel to execute once again. They may have last year too, though Doc didn’t implement it, maybe because of the time crunch. I’m hoping he’ll dust off this type of thing in camp
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